Going Down Easy (Boys of the Big Easy #1)(64)

Gabe focused on Stella’s answer to Addison’s question. The why was a big deal here, and maybe if Stella spoke first, Cooper would also share.

“It’s boring,” Stella said predictably. “I like to do things.”

Stella read, Gabe knew, but yeah, he couldn’t imagine her lying still for thirty minutes to do it.

“What about you, Coop?” Gabe asked casually. “Why don’t you like quiet time?”

Cooper shrugged. “It’s boring.”

Yeah, that wasn’t it. Gabe knew his kid. Okay, he let some—or a lot—of the discipline go to Caroline. And yeah, he liked to be the one who played and had fun with Cooper rather than the one laying down the rules and consequences. But come on, Cooper was an easy kid. He didn’t need a lot of rules, and he didn’t break the ones he did have very often. Okay, so Logan did a lot of helping with projects like when Cooper had wanted to try doing a model airplane. And Caroline did a lot of the caretaking when Cooper was sick. But dammit, Gabe knew his kid.

“Cooper,” Gabe said gently, waiting until his son lifted his eyes, “I know you like quiet time. Or you used to. What happened?”

Gabe didn’t miss the way Cooper’s hand went to the alligator flashlight hanging from his belt loop. He clutched the plastic shape tightly. “Nothing.”

Gabe frowned. “Cooper, you can tell me. If something happened, I want to know.”

“It’s okay now,” Cooper said.

Well, that wasn’t a flat-out denial.

“What’s okay now?” Gabe pressed, feeling his chest tighten.

“I have the flashlights, so I like it again now.”

“You like what again now?” Gabe asked.

“Quiet time.”

“So you need more light during quiet time?” Addison asked, her tone encouraging.

Cooper nodded.

“Why? Is it suddenly too dark?” Gabe asked. That was just strange.

“It just was. But now it’s okay. I’m braver now,” Cooper said.

Nope, that wasn’t okay. Gabe looked at Stella. “Stella, do you know what happened?”

Stella bit her bottom lip, looking so much like her mother for a moment that Gabe felt his heart lurch. Stella looked at Addison. Addison gave her daughter a little frown. “Stella Ann Sloan,” she said firmly, “if you know something we should know, you have to tell us.”

“The older boys put Cooper in the cupboard in the bathroom during quiet time,” Stella said. “They said they were going to make him be braver because he was being a baby,” she added, her voice rising slightly with indignation.

Gabe’s gut twisted, and he actually felt sick. He stared at his son. “Coop,” he said, his voice rough.

“Cooper,” Addison said, jumping in, her voice soothing and calm, “is that what happened?”

He nodded, his expression suddenly miserable. A combination of sadness and hurt but also humiliation. Gabe felt almost dizzy with the emotions crashing through him. No. Someone had hurt his son? No. Fuck no.

“So some of the boys at day care put you in a cupboard in the bathroom?” Addison reiterated.

Gabe looked at her sharply. Her voice was steady, mostly, but he heard the little wobble. Cooper nodded, and Gabe felt the tear in his heart widen.

“Did they hurt you?” Addison asked, a fierceness in her voice that Gabe had never heard before.

Cooper shook his head.

“It was just really dark and scary,” Stella said.

“Stella, I would really like Cooper to tell me this,” Addison said calmly. “But thank you.”

“It was dark. Totally dark the first time,” Cooper finally said.

The first time? Gabe willed Addison to ask the question because he couldn’t get any air past the tightness in his throat. He had no idea what to do here. He reached for his son, holding his other arm wide, and Cooper took the invitation to climb into his lap. Gabe wrapped his arms around him and held on. But he wasn’t sure if he was trying to comfort Cooper or himself.

“But they didn’t hurt you? They didn’t push you or hit you or anything?” Addison said, leaning in closer.

Again, Gabe heard the shakiness in her voice, and it strangely made him feel better. He wasn’t quite able to speak and was incredibly glad she could, but it helped him to know that he wasn’t the only adult who wanted to do some potential damage to the kids at Cooper’s day care.

“No,” Cooper told her. “They’re bigger than me. When they said to get in, they kind of pushed me, but I just got in. And it’s big.” He glanced at Stella. “It’s not a cupboard. It’s a closet. I could move around.”

Gabe almost laughed. Being stuck in a dark closet all alone was so much better. But he supposed it was, in some ways.

“But you—” Stella started.

“But you were afraid because it was dark,” Addison said over the top of her daughter, who kept quiet after that. “I’m very glad they didn’t hurt you by pushing or hitting, but they still hurt you this way. And that’s not okay.”

She had a look on her face that made Gabe want to grab her and kiss her. She looked ready to take someone’s head off, and the fact that she was feeling so protective and angry on Cooper’s behalf made Gabe want her more than he ever had.